Wednesday Wisdom: RuPaul

“If you don't love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?”

The Tuesday Tip: Save Sore Lips In Seconds

Now, if the winter months mistreat the skin, they bully  the lips. Cold weather regularly causes lips to flake and chap - sometimes damaging them so much that they feel raw to the touch.

Now there are some great lip products out there that help to nourish and protect the lips, however the best treatment I have ever used is eye cream. Eye cream not only hydrates and moisturises the lips, it also smooths out lip lines - making lips appear plump and youthful.

Any eye cream will do, however the more hydrating and moisturising the better. I am a big fan of the Weleda Wild Rose Soothing Eye Cream 10ml (£13.50 Boots / $28.50 weleda.com).

Review: Dermalogica Clear Start Breakout Clearing Cooling Mask

The Promise: "Turn down the redness, rid your skin of breakouts! This potent masque helps clear breakouts while a cooling sensation refreshes and soothes"

The Price: £16.00 / $24.00

The Stockist: johnandginger.co.uk / dermalogica.com

The Hero Ingredients: Salicylic Acid, Thyme, Lavender, Camphor, Aloe Vera and Liquorice

The Application: This mask has a gel texture and thin consistency. It glides over the face and neck easily and the majority of the mask is absorbed almost instantly. Only a very thin, tacky-like film is left on the skin until the mask is rinsed off.

The Breakout Clearing Cooling Mask contains camphor which, similar to menthol, feels tingly and cooling on the skin. Camphor is a great ingredient for soothing skin, so this mask is perfect for treating irritation and inflammation. The camphor also gives this mask a lovely menthol scent, just like the Vicks VapoRub!

The Results: A friend of mine suffers with bad acne, so it made complete sense for her to put this mask to the test.

She found that the Breakout Clearing Cooling Mask soothed her irritated and sore skin and, more importantly, helped to clear her skin. After trialling the mask for over a week, she noticed that both her spots and redness had been significantly reduced. Now the mask didn't remove her acne entirely, however it did remove approximately 80% of it. As far as she's concerned, this was an amazing result!

The Pro: This mask is as good at soothing skin as it is at saving it

The Con: Struggling to find one...

Are you fan of the new Dermalogica Clear Start range? Have you tried any other products from the brand that you would recommend?

PR sample

Weekly Worship: Delarom Revitality Balm

Price: £54.00 30ml

Stockist: urbanretreat.co.uk

Delarom is a Parisian skincare brand that draws on the ancient principles of phytotherapy and aromacology. The brand use a combination of natural Mediterranean plant extracts, vegetable oils and essential oils and keep products free from parabens, phenoxyethanol and silicone.

The Revitality Balm is the first product I've tried from the range and, let me tell you, this was love at first application! The balm is designed to protect and hydrate skin, "enhancing brightness, vitality, comfort and firmness". The winter months have been taking a toll on my skin and after just one night of generously applying this product, I woke up transformed. I had nourished and healthier looking skin.

Like all balms, the Revitality Balm has an incredibly thick consistency. So thick in fact, that you have to melt the product in your hands in order to apply it. This means that applications can sometimes be a little rough but, trust me, it's worth it. The balm has a lovely (but gentle) floral scent and, unlike other balms, doesn't feel at all oily on the skin.

The only downside to this product? It's not available Stateside.

The Beauty Myth: Tanning Beds Are The Safest Way To Tan

Verdict: False

This myth is not just nonsense, it is harmful. There is absolutely no safe way to tan and, even if there was, a tanning bed certainly wouldn't be the safest option.

Tanning beds expose your skin to more concentrated doses of ageing UVA rays (the rays more likely to cause cancer). In actual fact, the World Health Organization has recommended that no one use tanning beds for cosmetic purposes, listing them as a “known human carcinogen”. For those who don't know, a 'carcinogen' is a cancer-causing substance or agent. Scary stuff.

In addition to increasing the risk of skin cancer, frequent use of sunbeds can also lead to premature skin ageing. I'm talking wrinkles, age spots and a seriously dull complexion.

In truth, the only safe way to achieve beautifully bronzed skin is to get it from a bottle. There are many self-tans on the market that have great staying power and the Vita Liberata Phonomenal 125ml (£24.99 Boots / $54.00 Sephora) is one of them!